Method of knitting neck portion of knit wear by using flat knitting machine, and the knitwear

ABSTRACT

Knitting of a neckline  10  formed in a front body  2   a  of seamlessly knitted, sleeved knitwear, such as a sweater. The knitting comprises the step that the front body  2   a  is knitted to be forked into a right front body  15   a  and a left front body  5   b;  widening stitch is formed around a margin of a front neckline  10   a  in the process of knitting the right front body  15   a  and the left front body  5   a;  stitch of the right front body  15   a  and stitch of the left front body  5   a  are shifted in a direction of being away from the neckline  10   a;  and the stitches in the region around the margin of the neckline  10   a  are sequentially slipped from the knitting to be put into inoperative positions, this knitting being repeated a predetermined number of times, so as to widen the neckline  10   a  of the front body  2   a;  and the step that the front part which was increased in number of stitches during the formation of the neckline  10  is sequentially fed from a stitch situated at an outside thereof to the second needle bed, to keep balance between the knitting width of the front part of the tubular body and the knitting width of the back part of the tubular body.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a knitting method of knitting aneckline of knitwear, such as a sweater and a cardigan, and to theknitwear knitted in the knitting method.

BACKGROUND ART

The applicant previously proposed in Japanese Laid-open (Unexamined)Patent Publication No. Hei 4-214448 a knitting method of knitting aknitted fabric by using a flat knitting machine wherein a neckline in afront body is widened and also a front drop is formed in the neckline.In this knitting method, the front body is so knitted as to be forkedfrom a starting point for forming the neckline into a right front bodyand a left front body which confront each other across the neckline. Inthe process of the knitting, widening stitches are formed around amargin of the neckline and also the stitches of the right front body andleft front body are shifted to the outside, respectively. This knittingis repeated to knit the front body from the right and left front bodiesup to their shoulder portion. As a result of the neckline being formedin this manner, the number of wale of the neckline is increased and, asa result of this, not only a collar knitted subsequent thereto iswidened but also the front drop is automatically formed in the neckline.When the front body thus knitted is used to produce a sweater, theknitwear comes to be fancy and stylish and so comfortable to wear thatwhen wearing, one's head can smoothly pass through the neckline.

The method of the publication cited above is directed to a knittingtechnology for knitting the front body singularly as a part, not to theso-called “seamless knit” that is the knitting technology in which thefront body and the back body are joined at each knitting-widthwise end,to knit them into a tubular form and also are joined at their shoulderportions in the process of knitting by using the flat knitting machine,whereby knitwear, such as a vest and a sweater, is completed.

The “seamless knit” is the knitting technology for simplifying oromitting the sewing operation after the knitting process. The applicanthas proposed in many applications a variety of knitting technologies onand in connection with the seamless knit so far, including JapaneseLaid-open (Unexamined) Patent Publications No. Hei 2(1990)-91254, Hei2(1990)-229248, Hei 4(1992)-209855 and Hei 4(1992)-153346.

In the seamless knit using a two-bed flat knitting machine, forexamples, odd needles on the needle beds are used for a front part of aknitted fabric, such as a front body and front sleeve parts; evenneedles are used for a back part of the knitted fabric; and alternateneedles on the front and back needle beds are used for the seamlessknit. When the front part of the knitted fabric is knitted, the backpart of the knitted fabric is retained on (associated with) the backneedle bed. On the other hand, when the back part of the knitted fabricis knitted, the front part of the knitted fabric is associated with thefront needle bed. Thus, the respective fabrics are knitted, with thefront and back parts overlapping each other. As a result of this, theempty needles for transference can always be reserved for the respectiveparts of the knitted fabric on the opposed needle beds. Using the emptyneedles enables the knitting of the structure pattern, such as links,garter and rib, in which front stitches and back stitches are mixed, andalso enables the stitches of the sleeves and bodies to be shiftedlaterally so as to be joined to each other. In contrast to this, in theseamless knit using a four-bed flat knitting machine, for example, theneedles on the lower front needle bed and the upper back needle bed areused to knit the front part of the knitted fabric, and the needles onthe lower back needle bed and the needles on the upper front needle bedare used to knit the back part of the knitted fabric. In the seamlessknit using the four-bed flat knitting machine, when the front part ofthe knitted fabric is knitted, the back part of the knitted fabric isassociated with the lower back needle bed. On the other hand, when theback part of the knitted fabric is knitted, the front part of theknitted fabric is associated with the lower front needle bed. As aresult of this, the seamless knit using the four-bed flat knittingmachine does not have the limitation that the alternate needles are usedfor the seamless knit, as in the seamless knit using the two-bed flatknitting machine. The seamless knit can be performed by using a flatknitting machine of a transfer jack bed type wherein transfer jacks arearranged in line over either or both of the front and back needle bedsof the two-bed flat knitting machine.

On the other hand, the stitch loop holding technique disclosed byJapanese Laid-open (Unexamined) Patent Publication No. Hei11(1999)-43849, which is called “holding technique”, is applicable tothe seamless knit. The terminology, “holding”, means the stitch loopholding technique using a kind of compound needle, which is called“slide needle”, comprising a needle body and a slider which is formed bycombining two thin metal sheets and has a tongue at a front end portionthereof. In the holding technique, the stitch as was originally retainedon the hook of the needle body is held on the needle and also anadditional stitch is received and held on the tongue of the slider, sothat those two different stitches are separately held on the sameneedle. Reference is made to the publication mentioned above about thedetails of “the holding”. Using this holding technique enables theneedle to which the stitch is transferred to be used as the emptyneedle. If this holding technique is used to transfer the stitches backto the original empty needles after the knitting is adequatelyperformed, even the two-bed flat knitting machine can knit the knitwearseamlessly with all needles, without any need for previous reservationof the empty needles for the transference of stitches.

However, the application of the knitting method of Japanese Laid-open(Unexamined) Patent Publication No. Hei 4(1992)-21448 previously citedto the knitwear to be knitted seamlessly is not easy when the knitwearis wanted to widen the neckline width and also form the front drop inthe neckline portion. For example, when the knitwear is knitted in theform of a vest, consideration must be taken of not only the front bodybut also the relation with the back body which is integrally knitted inparallel with the front body to confront it. Further, in knitting asweater, a cardigan or the like, since the sleeves are laid at each sideof the bodies, further consideration must be taken, including thehorizontal and vertical positions of those parts and the way of formingthe neckline in the front body and of being integrally knitted with theother parts while transferring the neckline to the outside, thusrequiring further complicated consideration and calculation.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a knitting methodof knitting knitwear, such as sweater, by using the seamless knitmentioned above and of knitting the neckline of the knitwear.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method of knitting knitwear comprisinga front part having a front body and sleeves and a back part having aback body and sleeves by using a flat knitting machine comprising atleast a pair of front and back needle beds, which are extended laterallyand confront each other in back and front and at least either of whichcan be racked laterally to transfer stitches between the needles beds,wherein the knitwear is knitted in the condition that the front part ofthe knitwear is associated with the first needle bed and the back partof the knitwear is associated with the second needle bed, so that thebody and sleeves of the front part and the body and sleeves of the backpart are joined at both knitting-widthwise ends, so as to be knitted inthe form of a tubular body and wherein while the bodies and the sleevesare knitted up to underarms of the knitwear and then are joined from theunderarms to shoulders so as to be knitted into a tubular form, stitchesof the both sleeves are shifted toward the bodies and are laid overstitches of the bodies in sequence so that the tubular body cangradually decreased in diameter and a neckline formed in the front bodyis formed in the following steps:

1) the step that the knitting that the front body forming the front partof the tubular body is knitted to be forked into a right front body anda left front body; widening stitch is formed around a margin of theneckline of the front body in the process of knitting the right frontbody and the left front body; stitch of the right front body and stitchof the left front body are shifted in a direction of being away from theneckline; and the stitches in the region around the margin of theneckline are sequentially slipped from the knitting to be put intoinoperative positions is repeated a predetermined number of times, so asto widen the neckline of the front body; and

2) the step that when either of right-side and left-side of the frontpart is knitted in the step 1, the course knitting is performed in thecondition that the stitch of the other side of the front part at aknitting-widthwise side end thereof is fed to the second needle bed,while on the other hand, when the other side of the front part isknitted, the course knitting is performed in the condition that thestitch of the one side of the front part at a knitting-widthwise sideend thereof is fed to the second needle bed and also the stitch of theother side of the front part that was fed to the second needle bed isfed back to the first needle bed, so that even when the widening stitchcauses the front part to be larger in knitting width than the back part,stitch is increased around a margin of the neckline formed in, the frontbody of the tubular body, while balancing the number of stitches of theknitted fabric retained on the front needle bed and the number ofstitches of the knitted fabric retained on the back needle bed.

It is preferable that the knitwear knitted is a sweater of a set-in typeand the stitches of the front body are fed to the second needle bed.

It is particularly preferable that the knitwear is a sweater of a set-intype having such a design that a joint portion of the front body to theback body is located in the back body beyond a shoulder line, and thatwhen the front body is knitted to form the neckline up to the shoulderline, the front body is knitted, with widening stitch formed around themargin of the neckline of the front body, and is shifted to and joinedto the front sleeve part and, thereafter, when a part of the front bodyextending over the shoulder line toward the back body is knitted, thepart of the front body is knitted, with the widening stitch continuouslyformed around the margin of the neckline, and is shifted to and joinedto the back sleeve part.

Particularly, the knitting method mentioned above comprises thefollowing steps:

(1) the step that when the neckline is formed, stitch of the back sleevepart of one of the sleeves is transferred to the first needle bed andalso stitch of the front sleeve part of the other sleeve is transferredto the back needle bed;

(2) the step that the front body adjacent to the sleeve as was shiftedto the first needle bed in the step 1 is knitted to form one of thefront necklines and the front body is sequentially shifted toward theadjacent sleeve during the formation of the neckline;

(3) the step that the stitch of the other sleeve retained on the secondneedle bed is shifted to the first needle bed and the stitch of thefront body at a side end thereof on the side on which the neckline wasformed is fed to the back needle bed; and

(4) the step that the front body adjacent to the other sleeve shifted tothe first needle bed in the step (3) is knitted to form the neckline,and the front body thus knitted is sequentially shifted to and joined tothe adjacent sleeve during the formation of the neckline.

Also, it is preferable that the knitwear is a sweater of a raglan typeand stitches of the sleeves are sequentially fed to the second needlebed.

It is particularly preferable that the neckline is formed in the processof repeatedly knitting shuttlewise between a left front body, a leftsleeve, a back body, a right sleeve and a right front body, that whenthe front body is knitted, the stitch is increased around the margin ofthe neckline and also the front body and the adjacent front sleeve partare both shifted to outside, and that following steps are taken to widena left part of the neckline:

a) the step of racking the second needle bed leftwards; and

b) the step of feeding the stitch of the left front sleeve to the secondneedle bed; and

c) the step of feeding the stitch of the right front sleeve back to thefirst needle bed,

and wherein the following steps are taken to widen a right part of theneckline:

d) the step of racking the second needle bed rightwards;

e) the step of feeding stitch of the right front sleeve to the secondneedle bed; and

f) the step of feeding the stitch of the left front sleeve back to thefirst needle bed.

The present invention provides seamless knitwear with sleeves whosefront and back bodies and front and back sleeve parts are joined at eachknitting-widthwise end thereof so that they are knitted into a tubularbody and also the sleeves and the bodies are joined from underarms toshoulders are knitted by using a flat knitting machine, wherein a frontneckline formed in the front body is formed to have a front drop byperforming a widening-stitch knitting and a flechage knitting, and alsois formed to have more number of stitches than the back neckline.

Operation of the present invention will be described below.

While the bodies and the both sleeves are knitted up to underarms of theknitwear and then are joined from the underarms to shoulders so as to beknitted into a tubular form, stitches of the both sleeves are shiftedtoward the bodies and are laid over stitches of the bodies in sequenceso that the tubular body can gradually decreased in diameter. Inparallel with this knitting process, the front body is forked into theright front body and the left front body, so that the front neckline isformed in therebetween. The front neckline is increased in the number ofwale forming the neckline in such a manner that widening stitch isformed around the margin of the front neckline and also stitch of theright front body and stitch of the left front body are shifted in adirection of being away from the neckline. As a result of this, thewidth of the collar subsequently knitted can be widened. Also, when thestitch of the right front body and the stitch of the left front body areshifted in the direction of being away from the neckline, the wideningstitch is formed around the margin of the neckline. As a result of this,no hole is provided at the joint of the neckline. Also, in parallel withthe knitting mentioned above, the knitting that the stitches in theregion around the margin of the neckline are sequentially put intoinoperative positions is repeated a predetermined number of times. As aresult of this, the front drop is automatically formed in the neckline.

Further, the front part in which the neckline was increased in number ofstitches is sequentially fed from a stitch situated at the outside ofthe sleeve or body to the second needle bed, to prevent difference innumber of stitches between the front part of the knitted fabric retainedon the first needle bed and the back part of the knitted fabric retainedon the second needle bed, so as to balance the number of stitches of thefabric retained on the front needle bed and the number of stitches ofthe fabric retained on the back needle bed. Thus, the stitches in theboundary therebetween are kept in the positions close to each other,without being away from each other. As a result of this, the tubularbody can be knitted without occurrence of yarn rupture.

In the case that the knitwear is a sweater of a set-in type, the stitchof the front body is fed to the second needle bed. It should be notedhere that the stitch of the front body include the stitch of theneckline formed in the front body, the stitch of the front body adjacentto the neckline, and the stitch of both of them. As a result of thestitch of the front body being fed to the back needle bed in thismanner, the front and back parts can be made to have a uniform knittingwidth before the knitting of the collar and, as a result of this, thefabric can be knitted in tubular form at the collar without anydifficulty.

In the case of a sweater of a set-in type having such a design that thejoint portion of the front body to the back body is located in the backbody beyond the shoulder line, in particular, the course knitting of thefront body only is performed in the first half in which the knittingwidth of the neckline to the shoulder line is increased. In the firsthalf, widening stitch is formed around the margin of the neckline of thefront body and also the front body is shifted to and joined to the frontsleeve part. Then, in the second half in which a part of the front bodyis extended over the shoulder line toward the back body, the wideningstitch is continuously formed around the margin of the neckline and alsothe front body is shifted to and joined to the back sleeve part.

Specifically, when the neckline is formed, the stitch of the back sleevepart of one of the sleeves is shifted to the first needle bed and alsothe stitch of the front sleeve part of the other sleeve is fed to theback needle bed, so that the stitches in the boundary of the knittedfabrics of the tubular body retained on the front and back needle bedsare prevented from being away from each other to a large extent. Then,while the front body adjacent to the sleeve as was shifted to the firstneedle bed is knitted in this state, one of the front necklines isformed and also the front body is joined to the sleeve adjacent to thefront body. Then, as is the case with the above, the stitch of the othersleeve retained on the second needle bed is shifted to the first needlebed, so that the stitches in the boundary of the knitted fabricsretained on the front and back needle beds are prevented from being awayfrom each other to a large extent, while also, the stitch of the frontbody at a side end thereof on the side on which the neckline was formedis fed to the back needle bed, so that the forming of the other necklineand the joining of the front body and the sleeve are simultaneouslyperformed. As a result of the stitch of the sleeve on the side on whichthe neckline is formed being shifted to the front needle bed in thismanner, the front body can be kept in its fixed state on the frontneedle bed, thus facilitating the course knitting of the front body.

In the case that the knitwear is a sweater of a raglan type, stitches ofthe sleeves are sequentially fed to the second needle bed to balance thefront and back parts of the tubular body. Specifically, the neckline isformed in the process of knitting shuttlewise between a left front body,a left sleeve, a back body, a right sleeve and a right front body. Whenthe front body is knitted, the stitch is increased around the margin ofthe neckline and also the front body and the adjacent front sleeve partare both shifted to the outside. When the left part and the right partof the neckline formed in the front body retained on the first needlebed are alternately widened, the following steps are taken. When theleft part of the neckline is widened: after the second needle bed isracked leftwards, the stitch of the left front sleeve is fed to thesecond needle bed and the stitch of the right front sleeve is fed backto the first needle bed. On the other hand, when the right part of theneckline is widened: after the second needle bed is racked rightwards,the stitch of the right front sleeve is fed to the second needle bed andthe stitch of the left front sleeve is fed back to the first needle bed.As a result of this, the stitches in the boundary can be kept in thepositions close to each other, without being away from each otherbetween the front and back needle beds. As a result of this, theneckline can be knitted while keeping the tubular body.

In addition, in the knitwear of the present invention, since the frontneckline formed in the front body is increased in number of wale by thewidening-stitch knitting and also the front drop is formed by theflechage knitting, the collar knitted continuously to the front necklinecan be formed to have a wider collar than the usual collar, thusproducing the knitwear of stylish and so comfortable to wear that whenwearing, one's head can smoothly pass through the neckline.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a round-necked, set-in sweater knitted in the embodiment 1;FIG. 2 shows parts of the sweater that are to be knitted on a flatknitting machine; FIG. 3 shows a left half of the sweater as viewed fromthe back; FIG. 4 shows an outline of the knitting of the sweater in therespective steps; FIG. 5 shows a first half of the knitting steps of thesweater; FIG. 6 shows a second half of the knitting steps of thesweater; and FIG. 7 schematically shows a joining relation between ashoulder portion and a left front body. FIG. 8 shows parts of a raglansweater that are to be knitted on the flat knitting machine in theembodiment 2; FIG. 9 shows the first half of the knitting steps of thesweater; and FIG. 10 shows the second half of the knitting steps of thesweater. FIG. 11 shows parts of a set-in sweater that are to be knittedon the flat knitting machine in the embodiment 3; FIG. 12 shows thefirst half of the knitting steps in the sweater; and FIG. 13 shows thesecond half of the same.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

In the following, certain preferred embodiments of the present inventionwill be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the illustrated embodiments, a flat knitting machine having front andback needle beds, which have a number of knitting needles arranged inline, which confront each other in front and back, with the back needlebed being capable of being racked laterally, and between which stitch istransferred, is used, though not shown.

Embodiment 1

FIG. 1 shows a set-in sweater 1 knitted as knitwear in this embodiment.FIG. 2 shows a pattern paper (stitch alignment) of bodies and sleeves ofthe sweater. Illustrated above is the pattern of a back body 2 b andback sleeve parts 4 b, 14 b which will appear at the back side whenwearing the sweater. These parts are knitted with needles on the backneedle bed. Illustrated below is the pattern of a front body 2 a andfront sleeve parts 4 a, 14 a which will appear at the front side whenwearing the sweater. These parts are knitted with needles on the frontneedle bed. FIG. 3 shows the left half of the sweater 1 as viewed fromthe back. FIG. 4 shows an outline of the knitting of the sweater 1 inthe respective steps. The knitting proceeds in the direction indicatedby an arrow, beginning at S. FIGS. 5 and 6 show the knitting steps,illustrating the knitting in each step of FIG. 4 in detail. In thesediagrams, the front body is represented by a boldest solid line; theback body is represented by a second-boldest solid line; and the sleeveis represented in a solid line. The sweater 1 knitted in this embodimentis a rounded-neck sweater which has the courses formed from the hem ofthe front body to the point D larger in number than the courses formedfrom the hem of the back body to the point J and is designed so that thefront body goes beyond a shoulder line 18 into the back body and isjoined to the back body thereat. For convenience of explanation, thesweater is designed in the form of an unpatterned plain knit, though itmay have a structure pattern such as jacquard or rib.

In the sweater 1, the front body 2 a and the front sleeve parts 4 a, 14a are joined at the underarms A, a and P, p of the front body and thefront sleeve parts, and the back body 2 b and the back sleeve parts 4 b,14 b are joined at the underarms H, h and S, s of the back body and theback sleeve parts. The line A-B-C of the front body 2 a and the line P-Qof the sleeve 4 a are joined around the armhole 22, and the line a-b-cof the front body 2 a and the line p-q of the sleeve 14 b line arejoined around the armhole 22. Likewise, the line H-I-J of the back body2 b and the line S-T of the sleeve 4 b are joined, and the line h-i-j ofthe back body 2 b and the line s-t of the sleeve 14 b are joined. Thefront body 2 a is different from the back body 2 b in the shapesubsequent to the points G, g of the neckline 10 a and is knitted to beforked into the right front body 15 a and the left front body 5 b. Theline Q-R of the left front sleeve 4 a is joined to the line C-D of theleft front body 5 a, first, and, then, the line U-T of the left backsleeve 4 b is joined to the front body. Likewise, the line q-r of theright front sleeve 14 a is joined to the line c-d of the right frontbody 15 a, first, and, then, the line u-t of the right back sleeve 14 bis joined to the front body. The front body 2 a and the back body 2 bare joined at the shoulder along their respective lines D-M and L-K, andd-m and j-k. Then, a collar 20 is knitted around an annulus formed bythe line e-f-g-G-F-E-M-K-k-m-e, as mentioned later. It is to be notedthat the terms “right” and “left” appearing in the members, such as theright front body and the left sleeve, is intended to mean the right-handpart and the left-hand part when viewing from the a wearer who wears thesweater.

Then, reference will be made to the knitting steps of FIG. 5. In thestep 1, after yarns are fed to needles of a front needle bed FB by yarnfeeders (not shown) prepared for the body 2 and the sleeves 4, 14,respectively, the yarn feeders are reversed in direction to feed theyarns to needles of a back needle bed BB. This knitting is repeated tostart knitting rib portions 6, 7, 17 of a tubular body. In the step 2,the sleeves 4, 14 are knitted up to the underarms (at A, P, a, p, S, H,s, h) in parallel with the knitting of the body 2, while increasing thediameters of the sleeves 4, 14.

In the next step 3, the body 2 and the sleeves 4, 14 are united into asingle tubular body at the underarms. This knitting is performed byusing the same yarn feeders that have been used, for example, for theknitting of the body. In the steps 3-5, the tubular body and the sleevesare knitted in a course knitting ratio of e.g. 3:1. Whenever thisknitting is performed, the stitches of the sleeves 4, 14 are shiftedtoward and laid over the stitches of the body 2. This knitting isrepeated to gradually reduce the diameter of the tubular body. In thesesteps, the knitting width of the body is also reduced. Shown in the step4 are the knitted fabrics retained on the needle beds when the frontbody 2 a has been knitted up to the positions G, g at which theformation of the neckline 10 a is started. From those points, the frontbody 2 a is forked into a right front body 15 a and a left front body 5a and is knitted in the order of the right front body 15 a, the rightsleeve 14, the back body 2 b, the left sleeve 4 and the left front body5 a till the next step 5. Thereafter, the yarn feeders are reversed indirection at the neckline 10 a (G, F, g, f) to proceed with the knittingof the front body in the inverse order of the left front body 5 a, theleft sleeve 4, the back body 2 b, the right sleeve 14 and the rightfront body 15 a as if the alphabetic character “C” is drawn. Thisknitting is repeatedly performed. In the knitting steps 4, 5, theso-called flechage knitting is performed, so that the stitches aroundthe margin of the neckline 10 a are sequentially put into inoperativepositions along the lines G-F and g-f, to form a first part of theneckline 10 a. The steps 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 correspond to the step “s”,“t”, “u”, “v” and “w” shown in FIG. 4, respectively.

Next, the knitting steps 6-20 corresponding to the knitting stepssubsequent to the step “w” of FIG. 4 will be described. The knitting forincreasing the knitting width of the front neckline 10 a subsequent toF, f is started from here. This knitting is performed while the rightfront body 15 a and the left front body 5 a are knitted. In parallelwith this knitting, the stitches of the front body 2 a on the line C-Dare laid over the stitches of the sleeve on the lines Q-R and U-T andalso the stitches of the front body 2 a on the line c-d are laid overthe stitches of the sleeve on the lines q-r and u-t. Four stitches arelined on each of lines Q-R and U-T of the sleeve 4 and lines q-r and u-tof the sleeve 14. In the illustrated embodiment, eight stitches for eachof the left side and right side of the front neckline 10 a, or sixteenstitches (wale) in total for both sides thereof, are increased.

When the knitting width of the neckline 10 a is increased, the fourstitches of the right back sleeve 14 b are transferred and fed to thefront needle bed in the illustrated order of 1, 2, 3, 4, so as to besituated adjacent to the right front sleeve 14 a, while the back needlebed is racked leftwards by one stitch, three stitches, five stitches andseven stitches in the step 6. In parallel with this process, the fourstitches at the right end of the left front sleeve 4 a are shifted tothe back needle bed in the order of 1, 2, 3, 4, so as to be situatedadjacent to the left back sleeve 4 b. Thus, the stitches are transferredfrom one needle bed to the other needle bed in such a manner that thestitch alignments are counterchanged crosswise.

The step 7 shows the state presented when the step 6 is ended. In thisstate, all stitches of the right sleeve 14 are held at the left side ofthe front body 2 a on the front needle bed, and all stitches of the leftsleeve 4 are held at the right side of the back body 2 b on the backneedle bed. From this step, the knitting of the back body is temporarilysuspended and the knitting of the front body only is performed.

The step 8 shows the course knitting of the right front body 15 a,during which the right part of the neckline 10 a is formed. In thisstep, whenever the right front body 15 a is knitted in two courses, thestitches of the right front body 15 a are shifted toward the stitches ofthe adjacent right sleeve 14, so that the stitches of the right frontbody 15 a at the left end thereof are laid over the stitches of thesleeve 14 one after another. In this step, this knitting is repeatedeight times, so that the knitting width of the neckline 10 a isincreased eight stitches (wale) at the left side. Whenever the stitchesof the right front body 15 a are transferred toward the sleeve 14,widening stitches are formed around the margin of the neckline, toprevent the margin of the neckline 10 a from being bored. Although thewidening stitches can be formed by using the widening technique such astuck and split knit, any other techniques than the widening techniquementioned above may be used, as long as it can close up the boredportion.

The step 9 shows the state in which the line c-d of the right front body15 a and the right sleeve 14 (lines q-r and u-t) are joined to eachother while the number of wale of the right part of the neckline 10 a isincreased in the manner mentioned above. In this step, the stitches ofthe right front body 15 a are retained on the place in the front needlebed where the right sleeve 14 was retained; the stitches of the frontbody portions 5 a, 15 a are retained on the front needle bed; and thestitches of the back body 2 b and the left sleeve 4 b are retained onthe back needle bed.

The next steps 10-13 show the processes of shifting the left sleeve 4retained on the back needle bed to the front needle bed on which theleft front body 5 a is knitted, in order to knit the left portion of theneckline 10 a. While the back needle bed is sequentially rackedrightwards, the four stitches of the left back sleeve 4 b aretransferred and fed to the front needle bed in the order of 1, 2, 3, 4,so as to be situated adjacent to the left front body 5 a. At the sametime, the four stitches at the left end of the right front body 15 athat was shifted to the place where the right sleeve 14 was originallypositioned are transferred to the back needle bed one by one in theorder of 1, 2, 3, 4, so as to be situated adjacent to the back body 2 b.The step 11 shows the state in which the left front sleeve 4 a wasshifted to the front needle bed. The step 12 shows the shift of theremaining part of the left back sleeve 4 b. The step 13 shows the statein which the whole left sleeve 4 was shifted to the front needle bed.

In the step 14, the left part of the neckline 10 a is formed while thecourse knitting of the left front body 5 a is performed. This knittingis performed in the same manner as the knitting of the right part of theneckline 10 a as illustrated in the step 8. In this knitting step, whilethe knitting width of the neckline 10 a is increased eight wale at theright side, the line C-D of the left front body 5 a and the left sleeve4 (lines Q-R and U-T) are joined to each other. The step 15 shows thestate presented when this joining is completed.

The next step 16 shows the state in which the front body 2 a and backbody 2 b retained on the needle beds are shifted back to their originalconfronting position as shown in the step 5 from the position of thestep 15. The step 17 shows the state presented when the shift is ended.The knitting width of the neckline 10 a is widened eight stitches foreach side from F, f, from which it is understood that the four stitchesat the outer ends of the front body portions 5 a, 15 a are fed to andretained on the back needle bed. Thus, although the increase in knittingwidth in the front part causes difference in knitting width between thefront part of the tubular body and the back part of the same, since thestitches at the side end of the front body are fed to the back needlebed to balance the number of stitches of the fabric retained on thefront needle bed and the number of stitches of the fabric retained onthe back needle bed, the stitches in the boundary therebetween are keptin the positions close to each other, without being away from eachother. As a result of this, the tubular body can be knitted withoutoccurrence of yarn rupture.

Next, reference will be made to the knitting in the steps 18-19. Inthese steps, the temporarily suspended course knitting of the back body2 b starts again and the course knitting of the shoulder portion of theback body 2 b indicated by 12 in FIG. 2 is performed. While the knittingof the shoulder portion 12 is performed, the front body 2 a and the backbody 2 b are joined to each other. FIG. 7 schematically shows thejoining relation between the shoulder portion 12 and the left front body5 a. Every time when the shoulder portion 12 is knitted in apredetermined number of courses, the stitches at the side ends of theshoulder portion 12 and the stitches of the adjacent front body portions5 a, 15 a are overlaid with each other one by one along the joininglines 21 to gradually reduce the knitting width of the front body andthat of the back body, so as to reduce the diameter of the tubular bodyat the shoulder portion (joining of the line J-K of the shoulder portion12 and the line D-M of the left front body 5 a in FIG. 7). As thisknitting proceeds, a bordered line between the front body portions 5 a,15 a and the shoulder portion 12 of the back body 2 b which are retainedon the back needle bed gradually comes close to the center of theknitted fabric. In sync with this, the stitches at the side end of thefront body portions 5 a, 15 a are sequentially fed to the back needlebed. The step 18 shows the state in which the diameter of the tubularbody is partly reduced.

The step 19 shows the state presented when the knitting proceeds furtherand the joining of the shoulder portion is ended. In this state, onlythe front neckline 10 a is retained on the front needle bed, while onthe other hand, the back neckline 10 b and the front body portions 5 a,15 a are retained on the back needle bed in the state in which the fourstitches on the line M-E shown in FIG. 7 of the front body portions 5 a,15 a which were situated adjacent to the front neckline 10 a on thefront needle bed are sequentially fed from the M side to the back needlebed, so that the stitch alignments are counterchanged crosswise. In thestep 20, the collar 20 is knitted and then the knitting of the sweater 1is ended.

In this embodiment, the knitwear is so designed that the points K, k ofthe back body 2 b are in an intermediate position between the points Fand E of the front body 2 a and in an intermediate position between thepoints f and e of the front body 2 a with respect to the knitting width,respectively. With this design, the stitches on the line M-E and thestitches on the line m-e are fed to the back needle bed, as mentionedabove. If it is so designed that the points K, k of the back body 2 bcorrespond in position to the points F, f of the front body 2 a, thelines D-E and d-e of the front body and the lines J-K and j-k of theback body will be joined at the shoulder portion and the four stitcheson the nearside of the points E, e on the lines F-E and m-e will be fedto the back needle bed.

As mentioned above, as the result of stitch being increased when thefront neckline 10 a is formed, the knitting width of the front neckline10 a comes to be larger than that of the back neckline 10 b, thencausing difference in knitting width between the front and back parts.However, since the stitches of the front body adjacent to the frontneckline 10 a are fed to the back needle bed so that the front and backparts can be made to have a uniform knitting width before the knittingof the collar 20, the fabric can be knitted in tubular form at thecollar without any difficulty. The sweater 1 knitted in this mannercomes to have the front drop (24 in FIG. 1) formed in the neckline 10,resulting in being stylish. Besides, it comes to have a largely openedneckline so that when wearing, one's head can smoothly pass through theneckline, resulting in being comfortable to wear. While in theillustrated embodiment, the collar 20 is knitted in the form of arounded neck, it may be knitted in any desired design such as a turtleneck. Also, the neckline may be formed in U-shape.

In the illustrated embodiment, after the right back sleeve 14 b isshifted from the state of step 5 to the state of step 7 so that all thestitches of the right sleeve 14 can be retained on the front needle bed,the neckline 10 a at the right front body 15 a side is entirely formedin the step 8. Likewise, after the left back sleeve 4 b is shifted fromthe state of step 9 to the state of step 13 so that all the stitches ofthe right sleeve 14 can be retained on the front needle bed, theneckline 10 a at the left front body 5 a side is entirely formed in thestep 14. As a substitute for this illustrated technique, alternativesmay be taken. For example, with the state of step 5 kept unchanged, thewidening stitches are formed in the neckline 10 a, while the courseknitting of the right front body 15 a is performed, so that the rightfront body 15 a is shifted to and joined to the right front sleeve 14 afirst, and, then, the right back sleeve 14 b is shifted to the frontneedle bed. Or, in parallel with the course knitting of the right frontbody 15 a, the right back sleeve 14 b may be shifted to the front needlebed. In short, it is just required that when the formation of theneckline 10 a has been completed, the front body and the sleeves are inthe joined state. The embodiment illustrated above is particularlyadvantageous in that when the neckline is formed, the stitches of thesleeves to be laid over the front body are shifted to the front needlebed, so that the course knitting of the front body can be performed inthe condition that the front body is fixed on the front needle bed. Thiscan produce the advantage of facilitating the making of the stitches.

Embodiment 2

Next, the embodiment for knitting a raglan sweater will be described. Inthis embodiment, the knitting width of a front neckline 110 a isincreased eight stitches (wale) in total, four stitches for each lateralside thereof. FIG. 8 shows a pattern paper of bodies and sleeves of theraglan sweater 100. FIGS. 9 and 10 show the knitting steps in the stagescorresponding to the knitting steps of the embodiment 1 of FIGS. 5 and6.

The knitting of the steps 1 to 5 is performed in basically the samemanner as in the embodiment 1. Specifically, the step 1 shows theknitting of ribs 106 of a body 102 and ribs 107, 117 of sleeves 104,114. The step 2 shows the knitting of the sleeves 104, 114 and the body102 in mid course toward the underarms. The step 3 shows the state inwhich the body 102 and the sleeves 104, 114 are joined at the underarmsand formed into a large tubular body. The step 4 shows the state inwhich the tubular body is reduced in diameter while it is knitted up tothe forming points G, g of the front neckline 110 a. The step 5 showsthe state in which the neckline 110 a is knitted up to the points F, f.

In the case of a raglan sweater 100, the course knitting of the body andsleeves continues to the shoulder portion even after the step 5 in whichthe front body 102 a is forked into a right front body 115 a and a leftfront body 105 a. Accordingly, the course knitting of the body andsleeves keeps on going that far by the yarn feeders being reversed indirection at the neckline 110 a assumed as the boundary to shuttlebetween a left front body 105 a, a left sleeve 104, a back body 102 b, aright sleeve 114, and a right front body 115 a.

The knitting for increasing the knitting width of the neckline 110 abegins at the step 6. In the step 6, in the course knitting, stitch isincreased around the margin of the neckline 110 a at the right frontbody 115 a side and also the right front body 115 a and the right frontsleeve 114 a are both shifted to the outside, so that the knitting widthof the neckline 110 a is increased in a stitch at the left side thereof.Then, in the step 7, stitch is increased around the margin of theneckline 110 a at the left front body 105 a side and also the left frontbody 105 a and the left front sleeve 104 a are both shifted to theoutside, so that the knitting width of the neckline 110 a is increasedin a stitch at the right side thereof.

The step 8 is a preparation process for effecting the course knitting toincrease the knitting width of the left side of the neckline 110 a inthe next step 9. In this process, the back needle bed is rackedleftwards a stitch and also the stitch at the outer end of the leftfront sleeve 104 a is fed to the back needle bed. This process is theprocess for keeping the stitches in the boundary between the right frontsleeve 114 a and the right back sleeve 114 b from being away from eachother when the stitch is increased and the right front sleeve 114 a andthe right front sleeve 115 a are shifted leftwards in the step 9.Hereinafter, this process is referred to as “the end alignment process”.The end alignment process enables the knitting width of the frontknitted fabric and the knitting width of the back knitted fabric to bebalanced when difference occurs in knitting width between the front partof the tubular body and the back part of the same. As a result of this,occurrence of yarn rupture in the boundary therebetween is prevented andalso yarn length extending between the stitches in the boundary isprevented from being increased excessively, thus allowing the tubularbody to be continuously knitted, with hand value and feel of the knittedfabric kept in good condition. In the next step 9, the widening-stitchknitting is performed, so that the knitting width of the neckline 110 ais further increased a stitch at the left side thereof.

The next steps 10 and 11 are the end alignment processes prepared forincreasing the knitting width of the right side of the neckline 110 a inthe next step 12. Along with the racking and transference of stitch, thestitches at the side end of the right front sleeve 114 a are fed to theback needle bed and also the stitch at the outer end of the left frontsleeve 104 a that was fed to the back needle bed in the step 8 issimultaneously fed back to the front needle bed. As for the parts thatare planned to make stitches on the front needle bed, including theright front sleeve 114 a and the left front sleeve 104 a, the stitchcourse knitting is performed in the condition that those parts are fedback to the front needle bed. Likewise, as for the back parts 104 b and114 b, the stitch course knitting is performed in the condition thatthose parts are fed back to the back needle bed, to prevent forming oftwisted stitch.

Then, in the step 12, the widening-stitch knitting is performed so thatthe knitting width of the neckline 110 a is further increased a stitchat the right side thereof The step 13 shows the state in which the thirdwidening-stitch knitting is performed in the neckline at the left sidethereof. The step 14 shows the state in which the third widening-stitchknitting is performed in the neckline at the right side thereof. Thestep 15 shows the state in which the fourth widening-stitch knitting isperformed in the neckline at the left side thereof. The step 16 showsthe state in which the fourth widening-stitch knitting is performed inthe neckline at the right side thereof As a result of these knittingprocesses, the knitting width of the front neckline 110 a is increasedin four stitches for each lateral side. Though not illustrated, the endalignment process and the step for preventing occurrence of twistedstitch are inserted in between steps of the steps 13-16. In thisembodiment, the knitted fabrics of the back body 102 b and the sleevesare shifted in the condition that the knitted fabric of the front body102 a is fixed, to perform the end alignment process.

The step 17 shows the state in which the tubular body as was shiftedrightwards to knit the neckline in the next step 18 is shifted to thecenter. As seen from the diagram, the front parts of the right and leftsleeves 104 a, 114 a are in the state of being fed to the back needlebed. In the step 18, the collar is knitted, with which the knitting ofthe raglan sweater is ended.

Embodiment 3

Then, reference will be made to a variant of a set-in sweater. FIG. 11shows a pattern paper of bodies and sleeves of a set-in sweater 200.This set-in sweater 200 is so designed that a front body and a back bodyare joined to each other just on a shoulder line. FIGS. 12 and 13 showthe knitting steps. The step 1, which corresponds to the step 5 of theprevious embodiment 1, shows the state in which a knitted fabric isretained on needle beds when a front neckline 210 a is knitted up to thepoints F, f. The knitting before this stage is omitted.

The next step 2 shows the state in which the widening-stitch knitting isperformed four times around the margin of the neckline 210 a at eachside of the left front body 205 a and the right front body 215 a in thesame manner as in the raglan sweater as mentioned above, whereby theneckline 210 a is widened four stitches for each lateral side while itis knitted up to the points X, x. During this process, the knittingproceeds in the order of the right front body 215 a, the right sleeve214, the back body 202 b, the left sleeve 204 and the left front body205 a. Thereafter, the yarn feeder is reversed in direction at theneckline 210 a to do the flechage knitting in which the knitting isperformed in the inverse order of the left front body 205 a, the leftsleeve 204, the back body 202 b, the right sleeve 214 and the rightfront body 215 a. Subsequently, the knitting of the sleeves 204, 214 isended and only the front body 202 a and the back body 202 b are knittedfurther. In this embodiment, the front body 202 a is knitted further,with the yarn feeders allocated to the right front body 215 a and theleft front body 205 a, respectively, while on the other hand, the backbody 202 b is knitted to be forked into a left back body 205 b and aright back body 215 b, so as to form the neckline 210 b, as is the casewith the front body. The yarn feeders are allocated to the left backbody 205 b and the right back body 215 b for the knitting of these backbodies.

The step 3 shows the knitting of the left back body 205 b. In this step,the knitting that widening stitches are formed around the margin of theneckline 210 b and also the left back body 205 b is shifted to theoutside is repeated twice, so as to form two widening stitchestherearound and also the stitches of the left back body 205 b at theside end thereof are laid over the stitches of the left back body 204 b.The step 4 shows the same knitting as the knitting of the step 3 for theleft front body 205 a. Two widening stitches are formed around themargin of the neckline 210 a and the left front body 205 a is shifted toand laid over the left front sleeve 204 a. With this, the line Q-R ofthe left front sleeve 204 a and the line Y-D of the left front body 205a are joined and also the line T-U of the left back sleeve 204 b and theline N-J of the left back body 205 b are joined and then the joining ofthe left sleeve 204 and the body is ended.

The next step 5 shows the state presented after the end alignmentprocess for the right front body 215 a and the right back body 215 b tobe knitted in the same manner as in the steps 3 and 4. In the steps 6and 7, the widening stitch knitting and the shift of the body areperformed, so that the line t-u of the right back sleeve 204 b and theline n-j of the right back body 215 b are joined and also the line q-rof the right front sleeve 204 a and the line y-d of the right front body215 a are joined, with which the joining of the right sleeve 204 and thebody is ended. The step 8 shows the retained state of the knitted fabricat the completion of the knitting of the step 7. In this step, only thefront body and the back body are in the state of being retained on theneedle beds.

The next steps 9-15 show the steps for joining the front body and theback body at the shoulder portion and for a bind-off process. In thesteps 9, 10, the end alignment process is performed so thatcorresponding parts can confront each other, in order for the left frontbody 205 a and the left back body 205 b to be subjected to the bind-offprocess in the step 11. The step 9 shows the state of the end alignmentprocess on the way and the step 10 shows the state of the end alignmentprocess being completed. The step 11 shows the bind-off process which isperformed from the shoulder to the neckline. The bind-off process itselfis known and any adequate known bind-off process, such as the processdescribed by Japanese Laid-open (Unexamined) Patent Publication No. Hei9 (1997)-241950 may be used. The step 12 shows the state in which thebind-off process of step 11 is ended. In this step, the line D-L of thefront body and the line J-K of the back body are joined at the back bodyside beyond the shoulder line.

In the next step 13, the end alignment process is performed for thebind-off process of the right front body 215 a and the right back body215 b. In the step 14, the bind-off process of the same is performed.The step 15 shows the state in which the knitted fabric is retained onthe needle beds at the completion of the bind-off process. With this,the line d-l of the front body and the line j-k of the back body arejoined at the back body side beyond the shoulder line. The step 16 showsthe end alignment process for the collar to be knitted in the step 17.

In this embodiment, the widening stitch is formed in the front neckline210 a six times at each lateral side thereof and also the wideningstitch is also formed in the back neckline 210 b twice at each lateralside thereof. As a result of this, when a collar 220 is knitted, thecollar 220 can be knitted in the condition that the two stitches (linesE-L and e-l) at the side end of the front body are fed to the backneedle bed. In the step 17, the knitting of the neckline 220 isperformed, with which the knitting of the set-in sweater is ended.

In the set-in sweater of this embodiment, when the neckline is formed,the back body is also knitted to be forked into the right back part andthe left back part, as shown in the steps 3 and 6, while also, when eachpart is knitted, the widening stitch knitting and the flechage knittingare performed, whereby the back neckline 210 b is formed. As a result ofthis, the back neckline comes to have an increased knitting width, whichhowever is smaller in knitting width than the front neckline 210 a, andalso the front drop is also formed, as is the case with the front-neckline 210 a.

Capabilities of Exploitation in Industry

According to the knitting method of the present invention of knitting aneckline of knitwear, such as sweater and cardigan, and the knitwearknitted by that knitting method, knitwear of stylish and so comfortableto wear that when wearing, one's head can smoothly pass through theneckline can be seamlessly knitted.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of knitting knitwear comprising a frontpart having a front body and sleeves and a back part having a back bodyand sleeves by using a flat knitting machine comprising at least a pairof front and back needle beds, that extend laterally and confront eachother in back and front and at least one of which can be rackedlaterally to transfer stitches between the needle beds, wherein theknitwear is knitted in the condition that the front part of the knitwearis associated with the first needle bed and the back part of theknitwear is associated with the second needle bed, so that the body andsleeves of the front part and the body and sleeves of the back part arejoined at knitting-widthwise ends, so as to be knitted in the form of atubular body and wherein while the bodies and the sleeves are knitted upto underarms of the knitwear and then are joined from the underarms toshoulders so as to be knitted into a tubular form, stitches of the bothsleeves are shifted toward the bodies and are laid over stitches of thebodies in sequence so that the tubular body can gradually decrease indiameter and a neckline formed in the front body is formed in thefollowing steps: 1) knitting the front body forming the front part ofthe tubular body so as to be forked into a right front body and a leftfront body; forming a widening stitch around a margin of the neckline ofthe front body in the process of knitting the right front body and theleft front body; shifting a stitch of the right front body and a stitchof the left front body in a direction of being away from the neckline;and sequentially slipping stitches in the region around the margin ofthe neckline from the knitting to be put into inoperative positions apredetermined number of times, so as to widen the neckline of the frontbody; and 2) when either of right-side and left-side of the front partis knitted in the step 1, the course knitting is performed in thecondition that the stitch of the other side of the front part at aknitting-widthwise side end thereof is fed to the second needle bed,while on the other hand, when the other side of the front part isknitted, the course knitting is performed in the condition that thestitch of the one side of the front part at a knitting-widthwise sideend thereof is fed to the second needle bed and also the stitch of theother side of the front part that was fed to the second needle bed isfed back to the first needle bed, so that even when the widening stitchcauses the front part to be larger in knitting width than the back part,the stitch is increased around a margin of the neckline formed in thefront body of the tubular body, while balancing the number of stitchesof the knitted fabric retained on the front needle bed and the number ofstitches of the knitted fabric retained on the back needle bed.
 2. Theknitting method of knitting knitwear according to claim 1, wherein theknitwear knitted is a sweater of a set-in type and the stitches of thefront body are fed to the second needle bed.
 3. The knitting method ofknitting knitwear according to claim 2, wherein the knitwear is asweater of a set-in type having such a design that a joint portion ofthe front body to the back body is located in the back body beyond ashoulder line, and wherein when the front body is knitted to form theneckline up to the shoulder line, the front body is knitted, withwidening stitch formed around the margin of the neckline of the frontbody, and is shifted to and joined to the front sleeve part and,thereafter, when a part of the front body extending over the shoulderline toward the back body is knitted, the part of the front body isknitted, with the widening stitch continuously formed around the marginof the neckline, and is shifted to and joined to the back sleeve part.4. The knitting method according to claim 3, further comprising thefollowing steps: 1) a step including that when the neckline is formed,stitch of the back sleeve part of one of the sleeves is transferred tothe first needle bed and also stitch of the / front sleeve part of theother sleeve is transferred to the back needle bed; 2) a step includingthat the front body adjacent to the sleeve shifted to the first needlebed in the step 1 is knitted to form one of the front necklines and thefront body is sequentially shifted toward the adjacent sleeve during theformation of the neckline; 3) a step including that the stitch of theother sleeve retained on the second needle bed is shifted to the firstneedle bed and the stitch of the front body at a side end thereof on theside on which the neckline was formed is fed to the back needle bed; and4) the a step including that the front body adjacent to the other sleeveshifted to the first needle bed in the step (3) is knitted to form theneckline, and the front body thus knitted is sequentially shifted to andjoined to the adjacent sleeve during the formation of the neckline. 5.The knitting method of knitting knitwear according to claim 1, whereinthe knitwear is a sweater of a raglan type and wherein stitches of thesleeves are sequentially fed to the second needle bed.
 6. The knittingmethod of knitting knitwear according to claim 5, wherein the necklineis formed in the process of repeatedly knitting shuttlewise between aleft front body, a left sleeve, a back body, a right sleeve and a rightfront body, wherein when the front body is knitted, the stitch isincreased around the margin of the neckline and also the front body andthe adjacent front sleeve part are both shifted to outside, wherein thefollowing steps are taken to widen a left part of the neckline: a) astep of racking the second needle bed leftwards; b) a step of feedingthe stitch of the left front sleeve to the second needle bed; and c) astep of feeding the stitch of the right front sleeve back to the firstneedle bed, and wherein the following steps are taken to widen a rightpart of the neckline: d) a step of reaching the second needle bedrightwards; e) a step of feeding stitch of the right front sleeve to thesecond needle bed; and f) a step of feeding the stitch of the left frontsleeve back to the first needle bed.
 7. Seamless knitwear with sleeves,whose front and back bodies and front and back sleeve parts are joinedat each knitting-widthwise end thereof so that they are knitted into atubular body and the sleeves and the bodies are joined from underarms toshoulders, are knitted by using a flat knitting machine, wherein a frontneckline formed in the front body knitted in the method according toclaim 1 is formed to have a front drop by performing a widening stitchknitting and a flechage knitting, and also is formed to have a greaternumber of stitches than the back neckline.